ABSTRACT
The fi rst stage is that of the Middle Ages – a time during which Jews lived as a compact community confi ned to certain professions, mainly as artisans, usurers, and peddlers. Their choice of abode was restricted to certain parts of the towns they inhabited, and they were viewed with suspicion by the populations surrounding them. During times of extreme economic and social deprivation local populations would level accusations at the Jews in relation to their religious rituals and perceived hatred of Christians. 2
The next period in Jewish history is characterized by the Haskalah or ‘Enlightenment’ movement. This opened up the European Jewish community to greater economic and social opportunities than had been previously available. Just as a process of modernization affected other segments of the populations of Europe, so it did the Jews. Nationalism, a movement characterized by its attachments to liberalism and secularism, was an attractive affi liation.
